A/N: So this was a completely random thought on what would happen if Orson and Seth traded roles. For some reason, I like Orson. He's a villain with a good reason.

This contains spoilers for Chapter 16 of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. Rated T for character death. Slight Seth x Eirika.

Undying Loyalty

"Orson..."

"Monica." He couldn't quite control his sorrow, and his voice came out in a whisper.

"Prom-Promise me..."

"Anything for you."

"Never do anything reckless. Don't let sorrow blind you. Know that I'm always with you, I will love you forever... Thank you..." Monica coughed, before her breathing stopped. She was still, almost like she was asleep.

Only then did Orson allow his tears to flow, as he tightly held his wife's hand. "No. Thank you, Monica."

Monica's last words made Orson hold on tightly to his loyalty to Renais, if only for the sake of his wife... For the promise she had asked from him.

"Why, Seth?" Princess Eirika's voice came out so broken. Orson knew she was barely holding back her tears. After all, the red-haired knight had been the one to rescue her from Castle Renais, faithfully fighting alongside her, until at Renvall.

Instead of answering the princess, Seth turned to Orson. Orson thought that he almost saw a flicker of pain and regret in Seth's eyes, but the paladin's eyes were cold and unflinching. "You are the only person who could understand me, Sir Orson." Here was Seth, sitting so comfortably on what should be the throne of the rightful King of Renais.

The crown was on his head, making him look more regal than ever as he spoke. Orson felt something distinctly wrong about the crown Seth wore, but he didn't know what.

Orson shuddered at the thought that it could have been him betraying Renais, him sitting on that throne, if he hadn't refused the offer of the Grado soldier.

"Would you join the side of Grado, Orson?" A Grado soldier asked, a small smile on his face as he looked at the emotionless face of the paladin.

"And why would I betray my country?" His voice was cold, and his eyes filled with distrust as he regarded the Imperialist. They were in a war, and fraternizing with an enemy would only lead to problems.

"For the chance to reunite with your wife."

Orson was immediately on the alert as his hand sneaked towards his sword. They were in a forest, an ambush by some Grado soldiers leading Orson here, isolated from Prince Ephraim's group. And in the company of an Imperialist.

"And how would that be possible?" He tried not to show the hope that flickered in his heart. To see Monica again...

"Our Prince Lyon has practiced necromancy." Orson only barely stopped himself from flinching. The prince of Grado, who had been friends with the royal twins, had gone deep into such dark arts? "He wants to offer you this chance to see your wife again, if only you would join Grado."

Orson was almost about to accept, before he remembered Monica's words. "Don't let sorrow blind you." Wasn't it his grief that was making him even consider using vile necromancy for his own needs? No, in her memory, Orson would not accept, even if the offer was tempting.

"Here is my answer."

The smile on the Imperialist's face grew even wider, just before Orson took out and plunged his sword into the soldier's chest in a single movement. "Never in a million years," he had coldly hissed, as life slowly went out of his enemy.

"You... You will regret... not accepting Prince Lyon's... most generous offer," the soldier rasped out, before he became silent.

Orson's refusal led to changing the events of the future. No longer would the twins have to face him in Renais... But a more horrible fate followed. The change of events did not stop there, leading to a more frightening situation.

Facing Seth in Castle Renais. A fellow knight he had thought of as an ally. He had thought the feeling had been mutual.

"I am a traitor, I know."

"You can still turn back, Seth! You can join us... now," Eirika's voice faltered as Seth showed no emotion. Orson felt anger and sorrow fill him. A squire who he had seen rise in the ranks of the Renais Knights, who would grow to become the Silver Knight of Renais and somebody Orson considered a friend in the depths of his hearts. And now Orson would have to fight him. Kill him.

"There is truly no redemption for me. I have done what I have, Lady Eirika. There is no going back now," Seth whispered, looking anywhere but at them. Seth's eyes had softened as he spoke to Eirika, but Orson could see that he wasn't going to join them. Something was holding him back and it wasn't any alliance to Grado. Orson could see that clearly in Seth's eyes.

Although the Silver Knight could make his face an emotionless mask, his body language revealing nothing, he could never stop the feelings from showing in his crimson eyes. As it was said, the eyes were the window to the soul.

"Why?" Orson said, looking at the knight who seemed like he was going to give up. Just before Seth looked up again and the moment of emotion he had let himself show disappeared.

"For love. For what I hold dear," he said, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself. Orson stopped himself from shouting. But he didn't need to, as the prince voiced out Orson's thoughts.

"Do you honestly believe that, Seth?" Prince Ephraim arrived, moving next to his sister. The edge of his lance had drying blood, and it gently gleamed next to him. He looked more or less fine, with only few cuts visible.

"Yes."

It seemed like Seth's calmness after everything that had happened had been the breaking limit for the prince. "As if! Where did all those promises of loyalty and protection go, Seth? The time you gave your vow as a knight to my father! You don't deserve to sit there so calmly! Get out from his throne!" The princess caught Ephraim's lance arm, restraining him from jumping at Seth and more than likely gaining fatal wounds from the skilled knight.

Had Seth flinched ever so slightly?

"Brother, calm down!" She hissed at Ephraim, who was trying to pull himself from his sister's grip.

"Look at him, Eirika! Sitting so calmly as if he never betrayed everything he stood for in one go!" The prince didn't even bother to lower his voice, staring at the calm knight with anger.

"Brother..." Eirika sounded so resigned that Orson felt pain seeing her expression, which looked as if she had lost everything. "Seth, please. You don't have to..." Seth's composure seemed to break.

"Seth, this dark path will only lead to sorrow and pain. You still have a chance to turn away," Orson gave in his own appeal.

"Did you not hear me clearly, Sir Orson? I will never receive redemption. I cannot turn back," Seth emphasized his last sentence with appropriate pauses. "Kill me now and be done with it. Isn't that why you came this far in the first place?" A smile came on his face, eerie and twisted, yet fake. "Or do you want to continue to make your allies suffer for the sake of a useless endeavor? I thought you cared for those fighting besides you."

This time Ephraim really did attack. He lunged at Seth, Reginleif held securely and unerringly. The knight stood up from the throne and dodged the blow. Reginleif hit the throne's headrest, and Ephraim pulled back his lance before turning to face Seth and delivering more attacks.

"I'm afraid you will have to work harder to best me, Prince Ephraim," Seth wasn't smiling anymore as he effortlessly blocked all of Ephraim's hits. "Rage is a motivator to win a battle, but to let it overcome you will cause your demise." It was almost like the practice sessions between the two an eternity back, when Seth instructed the prince as they battled. Orson noticed that Seth attacked back a lot less, choosing to defend.

Rage driving the prince's actions; he did not fight with a clear mind, resulting in many mistakes and openings that Seth could have easily taken advantage of. Against a standard opponent, Prince Ephraim was doomed to lose ('and die,' the cold thought passed through Orson's mind) if he fought the same way he was doing now.

The moment Orson knew would happen came. Seth disarmed the prince, Reginleif clattering to the ground. The red-haired knight brought the flat side of his silver lance to the prince's head, knocking him unconscious. When it seemed like Seth was going to finish him off, Eirika stepped in. "Brother!" She shouted in concern, moving in front of his fallen form and taking out her rapier.

Orson almost wanted to scream at her. She was using a rapier against a lance. Basic weapon triangle knowledge and Seth's experience would lead to her experiencing the same fate as her brother. Taking in a deep breath and steeling himself, Orson entered the battle.

Even with two-to-one odds, the brown-haired knight was hard-pressed. Seth looked calm as he fought off both of them, his silver lance blocking all hits. Orson noticed he only went even slightly on the offensive with him; with the princess, Seth instead simply took all hits, a small smile on his face at the frustration on Eirika's.

The clanking of the weapons were the only sounds in Orson's mind for a long time; the rest of the battle did not register in his mind as he blocked and dodged and struck, the princess fighting along with him. Seth's moves were quick and sharp, and it almost seemed like a choreographed dance.

All three of them had scratches and cuts; the least, surprisingly, was suffered by Princess Eirika. The older knight slowly felt tired, but he forced himself to fight on; he had a duty to protect and fight alongside the princess and he was not going to fail. However, the princess looked more exhausted, not having fought such long or arduous battles like the other two experienced soldiers.

As the knight turned his lance on Lady Eirika, noticing her exhaustion, the other knight struck. Seth's lance turned in his direction. Orson tried to hit Seth's upper body, and the knight left a vital opening for Eirika as he blocked Orson's attack. The princess hesitated for a small moment, before driving her rapier into Seth's unguarded abdomen. The leather tore under the sharp blade, and Seth paused. His lance fell from his hand as the other pressed over the wound.

The princess drew her blade and took a step back, slightly trembling. Rapidly, blood seeped from the wound, soaking their opponent's clothes. Orson recognized the wound as a quite fatal one; Seth would die in perhaps minutes.

Orson finally allowed himself look around, assessing the situation. Most of their party had managed to defeat their opponents, though two were struggling, a purple-haired mage and her orange-haired companion who were fighting off three archers. They received help from Forde and Franz, who quickly dispatched the enemies.

Seeing that the situation was under control and everybody was healing their wounds, Orson turned back towards the dying knight. His grip on his lance tightened when the dying knight lifted his right hand. The grip loosened when the hand was put on the crown, slowly raising it.

Now that the fight was over and Seth was not a danger, Orson tried to find what he felt was wrong about the crown. In seconds, he realized what exactly put him off about it. It wasn't the crown of the king, as he had thought, but the crown of a secondary heir, an advisor.

He held in his breath unconsciously as Seth took a step forward and weakly put the crown on the stunned princess' head. He spoke softly, "And thus crowned, advisor of the heir of Renais, Princess Eirika..."

Orson felt he had never felt more stunned in his life. The possibility in his mind rose; could it be that Seth was actually on their side? Perhaps he did not know exactly why Seth had helped Grado, but an instinct in him told him Seth did it for Renais. It was a quick change of mind, perhaps, but Orson couldn't ignore the sinking feeling. The knight's words came back to him unbidden - "For love. For what I hold dear."

Seth looked over to him, eyes filled with an unspoken request. The guarded expression the knight had kept up before was gone, showing a heartbreaking honesty.

Orson spoke before those eyes could close, "As sure as day comes after night, and a new dawn for the kingdom, may it prosper forever more."

He could see realization spark in the princess' teal eyes, shock replaced with a stream of faint words and her free hand on her heart as a smile crept onto the face of her knight. "My duty has been done. I apologize for everything, Milady." Seth stumbled, falling to the ground where he remained.

The room was filled with poignant silence. It was only then Orson realized the others were around them, keeping a respectful distance. Each of their faces were filled with the same surprise he had.

Tana rushed to help her best friend before she fainted. Orson walked over to the now-awake Prince Ephraim, who looked surprised and confused.

He only said four words to his lord before he disappeared into the shadows for some time of thought, "Renais has been recaptured."

"I will go and check out the castle, Milady," Seth spoke. When it seemed like the princess was going to protest, he added. "It could be a trap."

"Listen to him, Princess," Garcia said.

Eirika looked conflicted, before nodding. "If you're not back within five minutes, we will come after you, Seth."

Seth nodded, feeling the corners of his mouth lift in a small smile.

"Take care," the girl said as Seth turned around and walked away.

xXx

"You may not know this, but your precious princess and her little party are surrounded by my soldiers."

Seth resisted the urge to growl. He wanted to go back to his liege, but he was surrounded, with weapons pointed at him from every side. He was a skilled paladin, but taking on nearly fifteen soldiers at the same time was reckless and suicidal.

He had entered the castle and gone a little further, only to have Imperialists appear from nowhere and create an unbroken circle around him.

"What do you want?" He felt pride at his ability to keep his voice even and calm.

"Tell us about what you all have been planning," one of them, a general, spoke. He looked to be the leader. "What you have been doing from the start."

"Never," Seth snarled. "I will not betray them."

"Would you prefer them to be alive but with a little betrayal, or killed?"

Seth didn't know whether the man's words were a bluff or not. But he couldn't risk the safety of the princess on a simple guess. "What proof do I have? How do I know you won't attack after I speak with you?"

A small smile appeared on the man's face. "Send soldiers to surround the party waiting outside," he commanded one of the soldiers, before turning towards Seth. "Now you have proof. And by all means, you can keep your weapon while we talk. If you attack me, my soldiers will attack your friends. If I don't keep my end of the deal, you can kill me."

Every fiber of Seth's body told him to slam his lance through the man and refuse. 'The princess...' He gritted his teeth. His feelings for Lady Eirika was getting in the way of his logic. 'But even then, isn't this the best option? They are safe, and they have enough number and skill to best the Imperialists.'

The knight glared at the brown-haired general. "If you break your word, the last thing you see before going to the other side will be my lance in your chest."

The smile grew wider. "I knew you would see reason, paladin." His eyes turned cold. "And if you lie to me, remember that the lives of your friends are at stake."

Seth ignored the icy-cold feeling in his heart as he nodded. The circle broke, giving way to the man and Seth. He felt the point of a steel sword at his back as he followed. He would do whatever it took to protect his country. To protect Lady Eirika. 'I hope you can forgive me, milady...'

*FIN*

A/N: And that's that! I had some problems with the fight scene; I've never written one before, so I just skimmed through it and focused on the main part. Seth x Eirika is one of my favourite pairings. And I don't know whether monarchies have crowns for secondary heirs, but let's just say Renais does. Exactly what happened in between the last flashback and the present can be speculated.